Any competitor knows it will inevitably face both sides of the same coin: sweet victory or bitter defeat. The cycle of competition dictates that for every victor that rises, it’s impossible to erase losers. It’s the end of the line for
time in the 2026
League of Legends Championship Series (
LCS) Summer Split. Unfortunately for them, their season ends in disappointment after
dismantled
them in a dominant 0-2 defeat.
However, DSG isn’t allowed to rest, as they have to prepare for the
2027 Promotion Tournament, where they’ll defend their Guest Slot. Following DSG’s defeat,
Sajed “” Ziade had an exclusive interview with
Sheep Esports. The bot laner discussed how he evaluates his upcoming opponents from the
North American Challengers League and the
Liga Regional Norte, fond memories from his first year in the LCS, and his hopes for the 2027 season.
I understand it's hard to want to talk after this season. In the post-match interview, Jett “” Joye described Disguised’s Summer Split as “too little too late.” How would you describe the season as someone who was with the team for the entire season?
Sajed “Sajed” Ziade: “I didn't actually get to watch his interview yet, because we were looking at stuff when he was interviewing. Too little too late… Maybe it's accurate when Srtty came onto the team. The season was just… We didn't improve, like, at all. We didn't know how to improve. The first split was our best showing because the other teams were rough, and they hadn’t blended yet. We had a lot of rookies down to fight and handshake, whatever. That's kind of what happened in our first split.
I think there wasn't enough accountability from the players and not enough structure. It's not really blaming anyone; it's just how it is. We're like the meme team, with fewer resources. We have one coach who has to do the job of two to three coaches. The players have to do more on their own than every other team. We didn't really improve because of these things. We had to put in extra work; all of us, and most people didn't.
Would you say these “weights” were the reason DSG couldn't really evolve across the season?
Sajed: No. We made the same mistakes so many times. What happened on our team wouldn't really fly on any other team. Even when I played at
, which is a Tier 2 organization, these small mistakes wouldn't fly. There were so many unacceptable things. My teammates and I had to do better at holding ourselves and each other accountable and looking at the mistakes we thought were small and trying to stop them.
This whole year, similar things kept going wrong and never got fixed. That was a really big problem. You can't have one coach on an LCS team. You need to have at least two, maybe even three, and a positional coach. I know Ido (Ian McCormick) had to do the work of two to three people. It got way too overwhelming as the splits kept going.
Using the metric of your preference, how would you rate your first year in the LCS?
Sajed: First year in the LCS, I don't know, maybe like a 3.5 or 4 out of 10. The level wasn't as high as I expected. There were exceptional players, like
(
Kim Min-cheol) and
(
Fahad Abdulmalek). In my opinion, they are the two best bot laners. They were very good, but the average play in the LCS was lower than I expected when I made the jump. The LCS environment didn't really feel that serious when playing against some teams, even on our team. My performance after Winter was pretty bad mechanically. I wasn’t playing as well as I should have.
What's the biggest lesson you'll carry into the future and into a possible second year in the LCS?
Sajed: That's a good question. The biggest lesson I had was… In Winter and Spring, I didn't really improve too much. By Summer, I learned how to fix stuff, get better, and interact with my teammates out of the game, like how to talk to people out of the game and work on different aspects. Between Spring and Summer, it probably doesn't look like it, but I improved greatly. At least I felt like my knowledge and my laning got a lot better. The first one is learning how to improve and actually make a difference. The second one is that I learned interpersonal skills, like how to bring up a problem and work with my teammates to fix it. Those would be the two things.
On a positive note, what’s the most memorable thing you'll carry from this team?
Sajed: The first couple of weeks of scrims. Being in the LCS and seeing how it is. I had the same feeling when I went to NACL. The first couple of weeks, everything is super new and exciting, and it's like you're in a whole different world. The first two or three weeks of scrimming LCS teams, playing against LCS bot laners, and having in-person reviews with an LCS team. That was definitely the most memorable for me.
Is there a way to keep this feeling you just described?
Sajed: Yeah, just joining a new team and environment will be like that. You’ll feel this again when you play with new teammates or join a different organization. I’m not sure.
You still have to compete in the Promotion tournament. What separates DSG from the other teams trying to promote?
Sajed: Personally, I think
(
Oh Ji-hoon) was the best mid in LCS this year, so Callme versus the mids in the Promotion Tournament is going to be like he's going to stomp them really hard. Overall, like all our players, they should be individually better than basically everyone in the Promotion Tournament. The second team from NACL hasn't been confirmed yet, but no matter who it is, we should all be better individually. It's interesting; I watch NACL games, but you have to play against these teams to understand their macro. On a macro level, we should be slightly better. We have to show up on the day, and we should be clear favorites.
You didn’t mention the LRN teams. Do you think they’re not a threat?
Sajed: They'll be on a similar level, maybe slightly lower than NACL teams. I saw both qualified teams:
and
. I thought Fuego’s botlane looked decent, and Z5 has
(
Victor Leandro Durango García). I know him, and he's decent for Tier 2 level. Yeah, I think they're around the same level as NACL teams, maybe slightly lower.
If you could promise something to the DSG fanbase going into the promotion tournament, what would you promise them?
Sajed: I'm a man of my word. I only promise something that I know will be 110% true. The only promise I can really give is that I'll do my absolute best and put 120% into it to make sure we don't lose the Promotion Tournament. Frankly, if we lose the Promotion Tournament, I'm pretty sure none of us, the five players, will be in the LCS next year. I really doubt a team would pick us up if we lose that tournament. I'm going to put in 120%.
I think General Managers will be looking at you ahead of the 2027 season. What would you say if you were given the chance to address them before they start scouting? You can also address your fans or whoever else you’d like.
Sajed: Honestly, I really hope I can play in the LCS next year. First off, I can compete at this level, at least in the middle of the pack for ADCs. Obviously, I had some really rough games and didn't play my absolute best, but I did put a lot of effort into improving and trying my best. I was really willing to do anything for us to get wins.
After Winter Split, I had to really get out of my comfort zone, and I couldn't really play to my strengths in Spring and Summer. I realized that's the direction the team needs to go; I had to play to my weaknesses during Spring and Summer, and I worked hard to try to fix them. At the end of the day, my biggest strength has always been teamfighting, and I had to play to neutralize my lane as much as I could. I'm really confident I could out-teamfight the enemy ADC when I’m even in gold or if I'm up.
I didn't really get to play towards that on DSG, except in Winter. As a team, we played really different styles, which made it hard for me to play to my strengths. I feel like most of Spring and this split, I played to my weaknesses. I put in a lot of work and effort to improve my laning so I could leave with leads. I have a lot of room to grow.
I didn't improve as much as I could have this year. There's a higher ceiling that I haven't really touched yet. I really hope I get to play in the LCS next year because, in the perfect environment and with the right systems, I could definitely be a Top 3 ADC by the end of next year.”
